National Parks

Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve

It was proclaimed a Crown Forest and gazetted in 1943. Part of the forest was gazetted as a strict nature reserve in the late 1960s. It is the largest existing fragment of the tropical forests that covered much of the East African coast

The Arabuko-Sokoke Forest protects many endemic and near endemic species. The Clarke's Weaver is completely endemic to the forest, while the emonymous Sokoke Scops Owl, Sokoke Pipit, and the Amani Sunbird and Spotted Ground Thrush are found only here and in a forest fragment in Tanzania. The park adjoins Mida Creek, a mangrove forest that is an important shorebird wintering ground, protecting species such as the Terek Sandpiper and the Crab Plover.

The endearing Golden-rumped Elephant Shrew, an endemic elephant shrew the size of a rabbit, is the most noticeable of the park's endemic mammals; the Sokoke Bushy-tailed Mongoose and Ader's Duiker (found only here and in Zanzibar) are more elusive. The forest also has Forest Elephants, African Civets, as well as baboons and Vervet Monkeys. The park is also recognised as an outstanding centre of amphibian diversity